Web Hosting: Efficiency, Effectiveness and Maturity

When examining Web hosting, measurement and an appropriate methodology must serve as the foundation for any evaluation. As part of a performance management model for Web hosting and e-business, the methodology should assess myriad aspects (e.g., total cost of ownership (TCO), efficiency and effectiveness as well as IS organization maturity).

Although efficiency still is important, the focus of enterprises has shifted to include effectiveness. When measuring effectiveness, it is important to gain a detailed understanding of the business requirements relative to the IS organization performance delivering against those requirements. Ideally, an optimal balance should be achieved in which service delivery meets the business requirements. At this point, costs should be optimal and business objectives realized.

Business requirements vary depending on the area examined (e.g., applications vs. infrastructure) but can be simplified and categorized into three main groups:

Risk/availability — focused on issues of service level, security, performance monitoring and business resumption

Complexity — focused on issues of flexibility and currency of the architecture deployed

Service and support — focused on issues of operational and change management support

Figure 1

Analysis of this relationship with respect to recent strategic development projects or critical business systems can help a CIO understand whether current success capabilities will translate to future success in the delivery of e-business systems (see Figure 1). It is important to track technology-specific costs relative to an enterprise's ability to drive higher IT performance and service delivery. The performance quadrant positions these elements clearly (see Figure 2). Although client server technology may reflect a reduced unit cost, the level of service may be lower. As enterprises strive to increase effectiveness, they must invest in tools, processes, technology and people to achieve the necessary levels of service that match e-business strategies and requirements.

Figure 2.

Current business drivers underscore an impetus to innovate through the use of frontier applications that drive revenue and to change by enhancing applications to improve margins. Business benefits examine:

Efficiency — enabled by customer service, planning integration, process-oriented organization, investment in infrastructure, flexible sourcing and coordinated change management

Effectiveness — enabled by formal and informal networks, program and project management, relationship management, business and IT research as well as development links

Over time, IS organizations evolve toward management process maturity (see Figure 3). For more traditional mainframe data centers, it took 10 years to 20 years to achieve a service management (i.e., Level 3) maturity. By comparison, distributed heterogeneous computing still is relatively new, and few such IS organizations have reached Level 3 maturity. By understanding where its IS organization is positioned in the IT management process maturity model, an enterprise can chart its path to higher levels of maturity more easily, including investments in people, process re-engineering and tools.

Figure 3.

Furthermore, the maturity level of traditional management disciplines significantly impacts the ability to achieve consistent high service quality levels. To achieve the necessary levels of confidence and consistency in IT services for business processes that are heavily dependent on IT, it is essential to reach a minimum of Level 3 IT management process maturity. Therefore, setting business/IT strategies requires that all items within the service (e.g., systems, storage, networks, applications, data, systems software, facilities and environmental factors) also be managed at Level 3 maturity. Otherwise, the weak links (i.e., those managed at lower levels) will not provide the consistency and predictability required to meet an enterprise's service goals.

Successful Web hosting requires measurement criteria other than TCO alone (see Figure 4). One-time costs to establish an infrastructure base will occur as well as ongoing costs to support "growing the business." Enterprise suitability is key. Depending on where an enterprise is situated in the Web strategic framework, the functionality may be minimal or, at the opposite end of the spectrum, require full integration into back-office systems as well as customer and supplier integration. It is critical to measure not only costs but also additional aspects of technology such as performance, scalability, high availability, workload management and independent software vendor enthusiasm.

Figure 4.

Business requirements also must be analyzed for Web applications in terms of 24x7 (i.e., no allowable downtime) and their mission-critical nature (i.e., immediate loss of revenue and/or customers). As business partnerships become more prevalent, a vendor's business practices in terms of scope, quality of service and support, as well as pricing terms and conditions, all factor into measurement criteria.

Especially in Web and Internet delivery, IS organizations must compete, sometimes internally, but more often externally, to show their ability to deliver e-business strategies. Thus, additional criteria aside from TCO must be evaluated when making platform decisions.

A Web hosting assessment must target an optimal balance between business objectives and the costs of service delivery. In addition, the level of IS organization maturity should be examined to facilitate achieving the requisite level for e-business initiatives. A Level 3 management process maturity is a minimum requirement for achieving the necessary confidence and consistency in IT services. Furthermore, it is crucial to manage all aspects at the same level of maturity. Otherwise, any weak links will affect consistency and predictability. Clearly, a study of TCO is essential in any evaluation of Web hosting. However, when delivering e-business strategies, additional criteria must be considered.

Source: Phil Georgas, Gartner Measurement, phil.georgas@gartner.com
Writer: Carolyn LeVasseur, Gartner Measurement

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